It’s a bit disturbing for me to have read an article about a rehabilitation clinic in the UK specializing on, what else but, kids with dependence on computers. We know about drug addiction or alcohol dependency but…computers? Oh well… and the rehab clinic also treats kids with addiction to mobile phones aside from the Internet and computers. This mental condition is aptly labelled as Technology Addiction. The said clinic is the Capio Nightingale Hospital in central London which has a team of experts that will teach children to “limit the time spent in social networks or for games, and help them return to the real world and build relationships with others.”
Isn’t it that monitoring and teaching the children how to spend their time responsibly and productively is mainly the task of parents? I admire those dads and moms who find joy in teaching their kids the right values and encouraging them to be creative with music or the arts. Even simple home activities such as reading stories, painting, or helping them find christmas ornaments to color, are bonding moments that help build relationship in the family.
It’s quite sad that some parents can’t give their kids quality time and provide the proper training for them. They simply don’t have the patience or they just don’t care. Instead they just hand them over to a rehab clinic when their kids’ situation becomes worse.
So how do these kids develop serious addiction to computers anyway? According to the experts, it’s because of “lack of faith in themselves in dealing with specific situations in life” which can lead to escape from their real-life problems. The virtual world then becomes their frequent refuge and thus resulting to computer addiction.
Most kids especially the teens experience feelings of inadequacy and their parents should fill this need, providing them support and understanding. The parents should work on building healthy relationship within the family; this helps avoid situations wherein the kids focus more on their insecurities resulting to technology addiction which makes them escape to the virtual world where they get the attention they seek.